


Do-Over

by xenosaurus



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Story Series | Digimon World Series
Genre: Flirting, M/M, Post-Endgame, Second Chances, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 03:28:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13650483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xenosaurus/pseuds/xenosaurus
Summary: Keisuke has never been accused of being ‘observant’ or ‘smart’.  He still feels like, maybe, he should have figured out that Yu was in love with him.





	Do-Over

**Author's Note:**

> extremely niche digimon fan fiction is all i write now ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ god bless my beta for putting up with this

There are a lot of things about the new timeline that, frankly, kinda suck for Keisuke.

Some of them are expected. He’d grown accustomed to checking his phone with Lilithmon reading over his shoulder, MarineAngemon peppering him with questions, and Sakuyamon insisting on standing guard while his attention was elsewhere. He has bizarre nightmares full of twisting, monochrome tendrils and screaming.

He misses Erika.

But that’s the big stuff. The people he misses and the things that he can’t talk about.

The little things are almost more of a problem. No, scratch that, they’re _totally_ more of a problem.

It’s easy to not mention the digimon. They always felt pretty otherworldly to begin with, and “don’t talk about the monsters nobody remembers” is a simple enough rule. Erika is a bit harder to talk around, and it’s weird to interact with Ryuji the first few days. Keisuke powers through that by pretending to have a headache, which makes him feel pretty clever.

But the longer things go on, the more differences he finds.

The part-timers at Hudie are different and he can’t ask them for an introduction because they already know him. He apparently never skipped six months of school in this timeline, so he is completely baffled by their coursework. He’s not nearly as talented at hacking without his digimon doing most of the work, which confuses Chitose more than it has any right to. The inside jokes are different. He’s struggling to keep up.

There are good differences too, at least.

Yu being part of Hudie was a nice surprise, if a complicated one. Things had gotten so awkward between them in the old timeline, and Keisuke had missed him something awful. He’s brighter and more cheerful now, play fighting with Ryuji and laughing at Chitose’s terrible attempts at flirting. Keisuke remembers the shame and guilt on his face the last time he saw him in the old timeline, and he’s glad for the change.

He remembers something else too, though.

Keisuke thought about what happened with K’s mask a lot before the world was rewritten, and it’s still on his mind now. Matadormon dug into Yu’s feelings with sharp, cruel fingers and pulled out his affection for Keisuke as the softest spot. It brings their mock date and every other little detail of their friendship up for reevaluation.

Keisuke has never been accused of being ‘observant’ or ‘smart’. He still feels like, maybe, he should have figured out that Yu was in love with him before an evil digimon threw it in his face.

Now that he knows, he can watch for it. It’s like Chitose’s spyware digimon-- he would never have noticed the little guys before someone told him about them, but he spotted them everywhere in the old timeline. Yu’s crush turns out to be the same delightful surprise as turning a corner in EDEN and finding an adorable little blob of data, just out of sight of pedestrians.

Keisuke has always loved making Yu blush. Maybe _that_ should have meant something to him before all of this, but it started so early that he never questioned it. Compliments, an arm around his shoulders, inviting him to hang out, gentle teasing-- all of it works, and Keisuke has loads of practice.

He’s been flirting for years and he never even noticed. Erika was right, he _is_ an idiot.

Doing it on purpose is a whole different experience, though.

His first intentional move is while they’re sitting in the school library, Yu patiently explaining science concepts Keisuke has no good excuse not to know. He looks so happy like this, gesturing to a diagram in their textbook with his mechanical pencil. He’s cute. He’s really, ridiculously cute. He’s so devoted to helping Keisuke out, and so excited that Keisuke asked in the first place.

“You’re really reliable, Yu,” Keisuke says, interrupting Yu mid-sentence. It has the desired effect; Yu’s cheeks flush and his eyes go wide. He stops talking entirely, raising a hand to cover his mouth. Keisuke’s smile grows exponentially.

_So_ cute.

“How do you just _say_ things like that?!” Yu groans, averting his eyes. Even hidden behind his hand, there’s an obvious nervous smile on his face, like he’s so happy he can’t help it.

“It’s easy. It’s just what was on my mind. You’ve helped me a lot lately.”

Yu’s blush spreads into his ears, and Keisuke shuffles so he’s sitting a little closer to him.

“Well. You asked, of course I’m happy to help,” Yu mumbles, embarrassed.

Keisuke has been trying harder to ask Yu when he needs help with… pretty much anything, actually. That was one of those things Matadormon had rotted from the inside out. Yu wants to be helpful to Keisuke, and it ate him up inside to be left behind. Studying for chemistry exams isn’t anything as serious as what Hudie used to do, but Keisuke wants their relationship to stay healthy this time. Erika gave him another chance, after all. Or maybe Yuuko and her friends did?

Someone did. It doesn’t matter who. Keisuke is doing better this time.

“I’m lucky to have you as a friend,” Keisuke says, then thinks about his wording and repeats himself, a little different this time. “I’m lucky someone as wonderful as you is in my life.”

Yu is going to burst a blood vessel if his face goes any redder. Keisuke reaches out and puts a hand on his wrist, gently nudging his hand away from his mouth. Yu stares at him.

“Want to get dinner after this?” Keisuke says, breaking the tension with an easy smile.

Yu gapes, and then closes his mouth like he’s suddenly become aware that he’s left it open. He nods hastily.

“Y-Yeah! Sure, that sounds good. Um, are Ryuji and Chitose coming, or--”

“I was thinking it’d just be us. We don’t spend enough time one-on-one anymore.”

Yu smiles and ducks his head; Keisuke still has his wrist in a gentle grasp so he doesn’t make his usual move to cover his face.

“We could go to K-Cafe. Um. Anywhere else, people might think it’s a date.”

“Well, we’d better find a new restaurant, then.”

Yu actually honest-to-god _gasps_.

Keisuke grins.

Okay, there are definitely some things about the new timeline that don’t suck, too.

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is @[xenosaurus](http://xenosaurus.tumblr.com) and my digimon-specific tumblr is @[meatfarming](https://meatfarming.tumblr.com)


End file.
